Ariel H. BierbaumAssistant Professor, Urban Studies and Planning Program | University of Maryland

Dr. Bierbaum’s research explores questions about the mutually constitutive relationship between metropolitan inequality, urban politics, planning practice, and public education. Her current projects focus on mass public school closures and neighborhood change, the effect of school choice on transportation planning, and school-level impacts of federal place-based anti-poverty and mixed income community development efforts. Previously, Dr. Bierbaum worked in the fields of community arts, community development, and urban and education policy. Dr. Bierbaum sits on the on the board of the 21st Century School Fund and is an advisor to Active Voice Labs. She holds a PhD in City and Regional Planning from the University of California-Berkeley, a Master in City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a Bachelor of Arts in urban studies from the University of Pennsylvania.